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sportscard collecting/selling/trading/buying is a fricken sham.

this whole sportscard industry is a sham. i have been "collecting" for more than 20 years and i have come to the conclusion that this entire industry is a money grabbing over priced sucker bet. you pay anywhere between $5 & $450 a pack for this crap and very rarely do you get anywhere near your moneys worth. yeah blah blah blah dont expect to make money on this stuff, blah blah blah.......i just sold my entire collection for $3500. this collection was book valued at over $30,000. the price i ended up getting was from the 11th offer i received for it. 1 card in the collection book valued at more than $1400. what does that tell ya? the whole thing is a fricken sham. i am totally done wasting my hard earned money on a bunch of worthless cardboard. yeah yeah its a hobby meant to be for fun of collecting...blah blah blah....you're all suckers just like i was, but no more! spend thousands just to get hundreds in return is a joke. stop buying into this overpriced under valued crap "hobby". its laughable. really.

this whole sportscard industry is a sham. i have been "collecting" for more than 20 years and i have come to the conclusion that this entire industry is a money grabbing over priced sucker bet. you pay anywhere between $5 & $450 a pack for this crap and very rarely do you get anywhere near your moneys worth. yeah blah blah blah dont expect to make money on this stuff, blah blah blah.......i just sold my entire collection for $3500. this collection was book valued at over $30,000. the price i ended up getting was from the 11th offer i received for it. 1 card in the collection book valued at more than $1400. what does that tell ya? the whole thing is a fricken sham. i am totally done wasting my hard earned money on a bunch of worthless cardboard. yeah yeah its a hobby meant to be for fun of collecting...blah blah blah....you're all suckers just like i was, but no more! spend thousands just to get hundreds in return is a joke. stop buying into this overpriced under valued crap "hobby". its laughable. really.

if you dont like it get out, its called a hobby! Fishing costs me money too! Do what you enjoy and can afford! Too many think this stuff is gold, but it isnt. I learned the hardway this summer after buying cases. I have a couple of nice pieces, and that I am happy with! If you like jacoby jones, doug flutie, etc collect him! Im done with the prospecting on the next breakout player and I now collect 2 players a year.

Im wax free for over 3 weeks now. I plan on buying nothing else in 2012 other then my 2 guys. 2013 I will buy some contenders and thats about it!

Go Gators and Bears!
I only collect Justin Blackmon and I guess I am getting in the SUPER collector range of Alshon Jeffery! Over 40 autos and rising!

Yeah I get collect a wide range of players but only focus on rookie and autos with the exceptions of my pc players Lebron, Kobe, Jordan, Walter Payton and OJ Simpson which I collect anything of them all of them are either in the HOF or on their way. With the rookies and autos they make for a good conversation piece and it is fun to see some of the rookies panning out and blossiming into superstars and HOFers. Bottom line is to collect with your head and not with your heart but remember this is ultimately a hobby but if done right you may make a couple of dollars. Good luck to you.

ive said it time and time again that some people get into the hobby thinking they are going to be millionaires and then get disappointed when they dont. i totally understand what you mean about not getting the money back that you paid into it. but there arent many things in life that you get exactly what you paid for an item when you sell it. most things we buy depreciation such as cars. i know it is frustrating but thats just how the hobby is, sometimes you get lucky and make money, most of the time you dont and very rarely do people get rich in this hobby. if you collect for the pure love of the game and pure love of collecting, then how much money you make in the hobby shouldnt matter. if you collect to just make money or even try to get what you paid for your cards, then 9 times out of 10 you will be disappointed. just my opinion from collecting almost 40 years and spending tens of thousands of dollars on cards over the past 40 years.

To each his own, i guess. I was just introduced to the hobby of collecting not long ago and not once did i sit and think about how much $$$$$ i can make off of it. I haven't even priced most of what i have 'cause it really doesn't matter to me. I also race drag bikes on the side. I have 4 custom Suzuki Hayabusa 1300 GSXR drag bikes that cost roughly $30,000.00 each to build and never once thought i would be some big DR makin' mega bucks on the sport. I'm simply in it for the enjoyment / thrill of running 220 mph on a motorcycle. I get almost the same 'thrill' feeling every time i go to open a new pack of cards and look through 'em.

I guess what i'm saying is that it doesn't matter what you pay to do something you enjoy, just as long as you have fun doing it and when you first notice that you are starting to feel like this guy is, save face and just walk away...

If you collect cards for reasons other than money this can be a very satisfying hobby. Many of us found out very quickly or even knew going in that this was going to be a hobby that costs us money. We are fine with that and we enjoy what we get out of our cards. You have finally grasped that concept and it makes you mad. It's just too bad for you that you have sunk so much into it before you figured it out.

If the only reason you "collect" is to make money then you are probably going to be disappointed in the long run. If the only value an item has to you is the amount of money you can sell it for then you are probably going to be disappointed. If you feel that you are entitled to make money on a pack of cards then you are probably going to be disappointed. Since all three of these things describe you its not surprising that you are disappointed. From a purely monetary standpoint buying a pack of cards is no different than playing the lottery.

You "collectors" can continue to spend money on cards that won't be worth the money you paid for them and be miserable and we hoarders, isn't that what you called us in another thread, will continue to spend money on cards that give us enjoyment in other ways and we will continue to enjoy our hobby. It's your choice.

Steve Schindler

Collect what you want to collect. Collect players and cards that you like. Collect what you can afford. Collect for you, not to try to impress someone else. If you do this you will much more likely to enjoy the hobby and stay with it.

I'd like to know just what you mean by that because I'm not sure I totally agree with it. However, I am having a tough time deciding exactly why. If collecting with your head means collect what you can afford and what you like (which to me are the two most important things to consider) then yeah, I agree. On the other hand collecting what you like might be considered collecting with your heart. Collecting just with your head might put you onto the same path as the OP. Maybe a better way would be to say collect with your heart (what you like) but don't ignore your head. If you're a Packer fan you may want to buy a bunch of Ryan Grant stuff now that he is back on the team. If you buy what you like and can afford then there is no problem but if you start to buy things you passed on before (when he wasn't on the team) your head should tell you "wait a minute, you could have had this before but you passed on it because he wasn't on the team. He probably won't be on the team next year so do you really want this." Or maybe you think you should buy Alex Green stuff because with Starks out Green will be the guy. If you like Alex Green and can afford it then fine, but if you are buying it because he is the guy now then your head should tell you "Um wait a minute, he was the guy before and he didn't do squat am I buying his stuff because I like him or because he is the #1 back now"

Its confusing to me because when I hear someone say "collect with your head" I automatically think they mean "don't spend money on his stuff because you won't get your money back" and that may not be the case. Since I don't necessarily enjoy that side of the hobby I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and not think that is what they mean but it is difficult not to.

Steve Schindler

Collect what you want to collect. Collect players and cards that you like. Collect what you can afford. Collect for you, not to try to impress someone else. If you do this you will much more likely to enjoy the hobby and stay with it.

It is a hobby. You control it and can buy what you want and how much. Nobody holds a gun to you head forcing you to do something. So if you get "scammed" collecting then it would be your fault and your fault alone.